DESMOND MGBOH, Kano
Kano State Police Command has arrested a family in connection with some missing children, who were kidnapped in Kano and sold in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Kano State Commissioner, Alhaji Ahmed Illyasu who disclosed this during a press conference in the state, said that already the police had rescued nine children from the syndicate which was made up of a man, his wife and their ring members.
According to him, the gang of traffickers, led by Mr. Paul Owen (38) and his wife, Mercy Paul (38), were smashed by police tactical team and the Inspector General of Police Operation Puff Aadder, attached to the anti-kidnapping squad.
He said the abducted children were aged between two and ten, adding that the two suspects were arrested while trying to take one of the kidnapped victims, Haruna Sagir Bako to Onitsha in Anambra State
The victim, he stated, was kidnapped last September, on his way back from Islammiyyab School at Yankaba Quarters in the state capital.
The police boss said that one Usman Mohammed (5) was kidnapped and sold for N1.2 million, however, luck ran out of Paul and Mercy and other four kidnappers as they were apprehended.
The suspect, Paul, confessed to having committed the crime with five others, adding that he and his wife had been in the illicit business for over five years.
He expressed regrets over his actions and pleaded for forgiveness
Also speaking, Paul’s wife, Mercy, said she had been pleading with him to stop the business. “I am a divorcee. I met Paul a few years ago, and we got married. I had warned him severally over this business but he didn’t listen, look at where it has landed us now.”